Running South West from Burgas on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, to Alexandroupolis on the Northern coast of the Aegean Sea.

Pipeline Status

ILF was awarded the design in 2008
The pipeline is expected to be in operation in 2013

History

2008 – ILF awarded project design
2011 – The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water gave a positive assessment to the project

Other Information

The pipeline is one of a number of projects designed to bypass the Bosphorus Straits. The Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan Pipeline which began operations in 2006 is the only one in operation. The Samsun Ceyhan Oil Pipeline and Constanta Trieste Oil pipeline are two other alternatives

From Samsun on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, to Ceyhan on the Meditereanean

Project Scope

The oil transportation system consists of the following main components:
New unloading terminal and tank farm close to Samsun
Pipeline from the area east of Samsun to Ceyhan (partly following the BTC corridor) and relevant pump/reducing stations.
The pipeline will be 42-48 inches in diameter
There will be 4 pumping stations
There will be 1 pressure reducing station
Connection with existing Ceyhan loading terminal and additional storage capacity.

Pipeline Status

Planned

Other Information

According to the IEA, compared to other by-pass alternatives, the Project offers the following advantages:
it will benefit from synergies with existing Turkish facilities:(i) from Sariz to Ceyhan the pipeline will follow BTC’s right of way;
Crude oil will be delivered to the existing Ceyhan Loading Terminal, which could be exploited at full capacity.
The route runs only across Turkey, and no intergovernmental agreement should be put in place.
Both unloading (Samsun) and loading (Ceyhan) terminals will allow use of VLCC tankers.
The selected route represents the shortest transhipment distance in the Black Sea, with consequent time and cost savings.
The environmental conditions along the route, as well as appropriate mitigation actions, are well known. Furthermore the pipeline runs in a scarcely populated area, and partly along the BTC corridor, and this will facilitate/expedite the landacquisition as well as the construction activities.